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Hi Pinocchio, check out this Pinterest Board for lots of cable control resources, including designs for eye mechs: https://www.pinterest.com/puppetvision/animatronics-puppet-mechanisms/

Persona Blades are great, but I mainly use box cutter blades. They're cheap and with practice, you can make much cleaner and more precise cuts with them than electric kitchen knives. Just be very careful - it's very easy to cut yourself when carving. Always practice proper knife safety and cut...

Incidentally, I believe those pictures were taken at the CBC Museum in Toronto (CBC co-produced Sesame Park and Canadian Sesame Street). If anyone is ever in Toronto and wants to see them in person, they are usually on display and admission is free.

I hate to sound rude, but that's a really terrible idea. Do not do that. Fabric will not protect you any kind of chemical vapor. You cannot determine how much you're being exposed to based on smell anyway (don't take my word for it, read the EPA guidelines for toluene from the U.S. government...

Double check in case I'm wrong, but I don't think that those N95 respirators provide any protection against chemical exposure. Even if they do, they cannot be reused. They are disposable and have to be thrown away as soon as the respirator is removed from your face. I use a 3M Half Facepiece...

What is the mouth plate made from? The issue could be that the contact cement sticks to the foam, but not the mouth plate. A lot of non-porous and smooth surfaces have to be sanded to get contact cement to properly adhere to them. You shouldn't be able to smell it with a respirator on. If you...

Huh. That is weird. Is it possible that the contact cement was too dry? Did you glue both sides of the foam?

Are you sure you're using contact cement, not rubber cement? Rubber cement is a different adhesive that is not as strong and usually sold in bottles. Contact cement usually comes in a paint can. When it is properly applied it should create a permanent bond. Drying times for contact cement vary...

Generally speaking, hair dryers are usually not hot enough to ignite contact cement, especially on a low setting. Never use a heat gun or open flame (like a lighter) though...the fumes are extremely flammable. I've never ignited them myself, but I've worked with several people who have seen it...

Try experimenting with vinyl placemats from somewhere like Walmart or a dollar store. You can often get them for $1-$2 and they can work almost as well.

I think the advice to practice a lot is very important. Stamina with come in time. A good way to practice arm movement is to experiment with pushing and pulling movements (push away, pull towards, push down, push up, etc.) Have the puppet focus on an imaginary object that is below its waist...

If you use a webcam - or a "flip out" LCD screen - make sure it is giving you a reversed image (when you move your puppet right, it moves left on screen and vice versa). This is disorienting at first, but it means that you are seeing what the camera actually sees. This is how the Muppets are...

Some details were announced today of upcoming auditions for a new puppeteer diversity training initiative the Jim Henson Company; essentially they are holding auditions for an eight week training program that seems to aimed at increasing cultural diversity in their pool of performers. This is...

No, the $30 is just the original cost of the fleece (purchase + customs fees when it was imported to Canada). Unfortunately, it's already spoken for. :(

I mentioned this on another thread, but I'm clearing out the studio space I've been using. While cleaning up I found 2 cut yards of undyed, original Antron fleece (this is the fleece that was discontinued around 10 years ago). The piece measures approx. 72 inches x 60 inches (it's actually a...

Hi all, I'm closing down the studio space I've used for the last two years this week and while cleaning out some boxes found some duplicate puppet building DVDs I had forgotten about. They are: From Sketch To Show: The Complete Series (Vol. 1-3) Building Life-Like Puppets With Noreen Young...

Oh that's too bad. It is on Netflix here in Canada still (or at least was the last time I checked).

If you search Ebay, you can find 7" LCD monitors with HDMI input(s) for around $80-130 US plus shipping. These are typically sold as "field monitors", "car monitors" or "on-camera monitors". It never hurts to look, but I really don't think you'll find anything for $40.

Haven't used that particular model, but any dental vacu-form machine like that should work fine. I would just search for reviews of it online before ordering.

I don't think you have the change the colour - unless that is what you really want - but you'll definitely want to have a contrasting colour inside the mouth (red maybe?), or make it glow so that it reads properly.